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A seat and a stay.
Israel's victory hinged upon the uplifted hands of Moses:--
"And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when
he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed" (Exod. 17: 11).
We read, however, that "Moses' hands were heavy". The hands of Moses, under God,
were hands of power. The rod he held aloft commanded the very forces of nature, yet
what miracle was wrought to sustain the weary servant of God upon whose continued
intercession so much depended? Some one gave him a seat!:--
"And they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon" (Exod. 17: 12).
What Divine provision was there made to keep Moses' hands upheld?:--
"And Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the
other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun" (Exod. 17: 12).
While these three together may represent the perfect intercession of prophet (Moses),
priest (Aaron), and king (Hur), for Hur was of Judah (I Chron. 2:), the lesson for us is
rather the humbler one of the place of fellowship in the service of God. It is this truth
that reappears in chapter 18::--
"And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the
people stood by Moses from morning until evening" ("even until evening" some MSS
read) (verse 13).
It was bad for both Moses and the people; it was bad for the ministry of the truth, and
it was an unnecessary martyrdom. Jethro saw this, and said:--
"Why sittest thou thyself alone . . . . . Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this
people that is with thee; for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it
thyself alone" (verses 14 and 18). (The LXX reads, "thou wilt wear away with
intolerable weariness").
Now it may be that the time will come when we shall have to face the same conditions
as closed round the last years of Paul, and if so, grace will be given to yield, no, not for
an hour, that strength will be given to finish the course and fight the good fight. We are
not, however, called upon to invite persecution or to invent a martyr's conditions,
otherwise the service we have in heart and hand will suffer, for "thou art not able to
perform it", and those to whom we minister will suffer too, "both thou and this people
with thee". Moses, great leader as he was, was a meek man: the counsel of Jethro
commended itself to him:--
"Be thou for the people to Godward . . . . . teach them . . . . . shew them the way and
the work" (Exod. 18: 19, 20).